Confederate Occupation of Gettysburg
The Confederacy's Occupation of Gettysburg was a major 1 and a half month event in the American Civil War during the Gettysburg Campaign that was conducted between July 8th, to August 2nd of 1863, which occurred immediately during and after the Fall of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was temporarily liberated on July 4th, of 1863, but the Liberation was short lived as the Confederates counter attacked and surprised the Union on July 6th, forcing the Union out of the town and back towards Little Round Top, further reestablishing the Southern Occupation of Gettysburg on July 7th. Gettysburg remained under Confederate Occupation until August 2nd, 1863, following a two and a half month Siege that was conducted by Union reinforcements sent from the Western Theater of the Mississippi Campaign in the Confederate States of America. ''History 'First Occupation Prior to Southern Invasion 1863' Between July 1 and 8th 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the largest battles during the American Civil War, was fought across the fields and heights in the vicinity of the town. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of Robert E. Lee, experienced success in the early stages of the battle, and was ultimately able to defeat the Army of the Potomac, by July 8th, after reinforcements arrived from Tennessee days prior. Casualties were high with total losses on both sides over 27,000 Confederate and 23,000 Union. The residents of Gettysburg were left to care for the wounded and bury the dead following the Confederate Occupation of the Town. A 20-year-old woman, Jennie Wade, was the only civilian killed during the battle. She was hit by a stray bullet that passed through her kitchen door while she was making bread on July 3. In the aftermath of the Battle, The Confederacy tightened their occupation on the town, while awaiting for the Union to reclaim Gettysburg and the surrounding regions around the town, where a major siege erupted up until August of 1863, where the Union were able to succeed in reclaiming the town. 'Confederate Invasion & Beginning of the Occupation 1865-1877' Despite the initial success, the South was eventually able to reclaim lost land in the South due to the effects of the Gettysburg Campaign, and begin an Invasion of the North by 1865, after crushing Antietam Creek. Gettysburg was occupied again by the South, by November 22nd, 1865, and was since then used as an official hub for farming and produce productions in order to fuel the CSA forces Invading the North. At one point command of the town was going to be granted to General Robert E Lee, by Jefferson Davis, but Lee refused the offer, declaring that he was nothing more but a Mir soldier fighting for the rights of Virginia, the town was instead run by General Kevin Buell of the 12th Alabama Regiment. 'Gettysburg Wolf Riots' During the course of the Southern Occupation, multiple Armed militias constantly set fire to Gettysburg crop fields, in order to prevent food from reaching the front lines, which by 1866, temporarily halted, the CSA's planned assault on the Union garrison at Margis, Pennsylvania, during that same year, the town heard of the news following the death of Abraham Lincoln, from the hands of John Wilkes Booth while the President was in the custody of the Confederacy in Southern Occupied Washington, news of this greatly affected the people of Gettysburg in a very negative way, to the point that more began to join the militia in order to help turn the tide of the war back in favor of the North, and even went as far as to destroying the newly constructed Southern governmental structure, alongside the train station that was built in the early months of the towns occupation. The town was punished, by Southern soldiers on the night of November 1st, 1866, where the Confederacy set fire to many hideouts that were used by the Militia, while at the same time hanging multiple of the accomplices aiding the Gettysburg Wolves. The Town was eventually stripped of food for the past 5 weeks, to the point that multiple Towns people died from starvation, while another 30 committed suicide by attacking a Southern road block on Seminary Ridge. By November 10th, multiple Militia men, began to betray the Militia to the South in order to get a meal, which during the course of the 3 days, led to the Militia losing more and more ground. On the Night of November 18th, 1866, leader of the Militia Edward Miles, after losing both his wife and daughter to starvation, eventually surrendered to Confederate General Thomas Howell, and was court martialed and executed by hanging, along with his followers. The punishment of Gettysburg, was eventually lifted that same night and food supplies were allowed reentry into the town center, after the final group of Militiamen were routed from Little Round top hours prior to Mile's surrender, where he attempted to make a final stand on the hill that col Chamberlin defended during the Fall of Gettysburg. 'Railroad Incident' 'Second Resistance Uprising' 'New Architecture' 'Battle of Pine Ridge' 'Storm of 1868' 'Third Resistance Movement' 'Reaction to England & France's Arrival' 'Final Years of Confederate Rule' 'Confederate Forces Fill Gettysburg' 'Final Uprising of 1877' 'Second Battle of Gettysburg' 'Post Liberation' Trivia'' Category:1863 Category:Events Category:American Civil War Category:American Civil War Era Category:1865 Category:1866 Category:1867 Category:1868 Category:1869 Category:1870 Category:1871 Category:1872 Category:1873 Category:1874 Category:1875 Category:1876 Category:1877